Environmental Priorities Coalition Briefing January 12, 2026

For more than 20 years, the Environmental Priorities Coalition (EPC), a group of 26 statewide environmental organizations, has come together during each state legislative session to work together on a select group of priorities. This collaboration has resulted in the laws that make Washington a national environmental leader, such as the 2021 cap-and-invest carbon law, the Climate Commitment Act.

With ferocious headwinds at the federal level, it is ever more important to push back and to make progress at the state and local level. The 2026 legislative session begins January 12 and continues for 60 days. This year, the EPC has decided to focus on four priorities.

Restore Wildfire Resilience Funding 

In 2021, the state Legislature passed HB 1168, committing $125 million each biennium to meet the challenges of wildfire through 2029. These investments are working. They support firefighters’ ability to better manage fire. They have improved the health of nearly 90,000 acres of forests. They invest in community-led solutions for wildfire resilience. However, the 2025-2027 state biennial budget cut this funding commitment in half. This threatens to reverse hard won progress against the growing threat of catastrophic wildfire. It unfairly places the burden back on communities, leaving them to deal with the costs of inaction.

To protect livelihoods and landscapes, the Legislature must restore full funding to the Wildfire Response, Forest Restoration, and Community Resilience Account.

Protecting Climate and Environmental Health Funding

With the state budget shortfall, climate and environmental programs are at risk of deeper funding cuts and diversions. Climate and environmental funding make up a small portion of the overall state budget, yet the benefits affect everyone in the state through clean air and clean water, reduced energy bills, and well-paying jobs. We need to ensure that dedicated funding sources are used for their intended purposes. That means reducing dangerous climate and toxic pollution while also safeguarding communities from the impacts of cuts to environmental programs.

Data Centers, Environmental Protection, and Affordability 

Data center growth in Washington poses a rapidly growing challenge. These huge facilities have the potential to impact our climate and clean energy goals, energy affordability and reliability, the environment, and communities.  Yet, the right protections and incentives could hold data centers to a high standard, one that centers communities and the environment while also fostering innovative solutions. To address this challenge and this opportunity, the Legislature should  focus on a package of data center-focused policies that will protect and further our state’s climate and clean energy laws and goals; protect ratepayers from financial and reliability impacts; minimize impacts to communities and natural resources including air, water, and salmon; and maximize benefits to communities.

Bottles and Cans Recycling Refund Act 

Beverage containers, a large component of our state’s waste, litter Washington’s freeways, our waterways, and our public spaces.  Only 30% of beverage containers are currently recycled in the state. The Recycling Refund Act will reduce litter and increase recycling rates in Washington by incentivizing recycling and pulling beverage containers into a clean recycling stream separated from other materials. Consumers would pay a 10-cent deposit on most beverage containers and be refunded that 10 cents back when they bring containers to convenient drop-off locations to be recycled or reused.